An American Mage in Wizarding Britan (HP AU)
Years In Moments (March, 1973)
7734
Trust and verify.
- Location
- Philmont
March
"Blackstone, what are you doing here?"
"I'm helping. The girls need a focus, and I work just as well as the shrines do."
Now you were, shall we say, intrigued. For his own good, of course. "So, how did you find this out?"
"Erm… We did an… experiment. It worked, mostly."
"Mostly?"
"The issue with the spell we were trying to activate was traceable to a fault in the item we were trying to enchant, so yes. Mostly successful."
You let the subject drop, and got to work. True to what he said, you didn't really notice the actual difference between him and the shrine doing the focusing, although it got kinda creepy when he just kept sitting there, day in and day out. After you finished one of the barracks after a week of enchanting, you went over to him to see how he was doing.
"Hey, Blackstone."
"Nandesuka?"
You sighed, and nudged Blackstone on one shoulder. In true meditating fashion, he stayed still.
"Blackstone, you've been sitting here for a litteral week. Need a hand getting up?"
A couple of grumbles later, and Blackstone nodded. As his legs uncurled, he groaned loudly and you pulled him up to his feet.
"Dad?"
"Yes?"
"When we start this next week, remind me not to host the winner-take-all mahjong game for the ages while channeling that much juice.
You had so many questions to ask, but decieded to go slow. "Why?"
"Because Akastuki is going to be pissed when she remembers she owes the house ten percent of the pot, and I have no idea what I'm going to do with a few hundred thousand yen."
Tabasco?
No reply, despite the fact she was sprawled on the ground next to you with one arm latched onto yours. Now that you were semi-upright, you looked at the mess your shop was in, and held your head in your hands. Tools were everywhere, and your supplies were all over the place. Leather was in the lumber bin, lumber was in the brass bin, brass dust was all over the rope bags and Akatsuki…
Speaking of which, why was Akatsuki in your shop? Truly, last night had some questions that needed answering. Getting to your feet, you moved towards your hot plate to make some coffee, when you noted a little hat on the plate. Putting it aside, you got to work, and found some decent mugs that weren't too messy. Pretty soon, you had a cup of joe ready, just in time for Tabasco to snatch it.
"Tabasco!" you yelled, diving after your drink.
Can it! I need something to drink, after your hairbrained idea last night!
What idea?
The one with sitting in the paint closet, smart one!
Going over to the paint closet, you open it to look into a little Shinto shrine. Inside, a few unlit candles sit on paint cans, with a closed case that certainly looked like something you'd build on a semi-alter in the back. Sticking your head back out into the shop, you went and got yourself another cup of coffee. This was well above your pay grade. Throwing your spare blanket over Akatsuki, you left to head to breakfast and really, really hoped that this wasn't going to bite you in the tail later.
Honestly, the only consistently interesting thing was Dueling Club. After your debut match and the resulting embarrassment on the older student's behalf, you were quickly entered into the ranking system for formalized dueling. There were three technical departments of the sport, each contributing to a composite number that theoretically represented each student's skill. Your strongest suit, Mixed Dueling, was also one of the least-represented schools of battle in Hogwarts, as explained by Professor Von Roon's gruff explanation to the Arthmiancer who ran the counting system. The other two -Melee and Magical dueling, respectively- were both much more represented among the two hundred-ish permanent members of the club.
Of course, your ascendancy in the field of Mixed Dueling meant exactly squat when nobody actually up and dueled you in a ranked Mixed match. The few new Gryffindor students who did quickly hemorrhaged points to your speed in casting and willingness to close the range and bring training knives into play. Melee dueling was slightly more receptive to your presence, although the inability to throw down blanket sparkle spells did leave you with issues, especially when you fought Kranzky. After his qualifying loss to Mort, he had decided to compensate for that disaster by dedicating himself to a melee weapon that would let him fight wizards on even ground despite his limited counterspell repetoir. Said weapon, an anti-magic bidenhänder longer than you were tall, was on loan from the Professor for the club's use. Your own melee weapons, a basket-hilt claymore and athame or dirk, were no match for its massive reach and power.
It was good training fighting Kranzky, but you still wanted more. Magical duels were your bane, but you did fare well in them as you clawed through the ranks. It was a few days into the semester when Professor Von Roon called you into his office for a talk. The inside was fairly barren, decorated with only a few photographs and paintings with a well-kept phonograph in the corner. Looking at him, you fidgeted nervously.
"So," he began, that solemn air thick around him. "I hear your father is working on a… refugee encampment. You do know my subject, correct?"
"No." you answered frankly.
"I am, through fault of my inability to get that old coot let me retire, the Professor of Diviniation. And while I might not have the most spectacular abilities of scrying, right now even a Muggle could see the wizarding world is paving the highway to hell. Perhaps my… past experience… has jaundiced me on the topic, but I see a storm approaching."
Standing, the Profesor put a disc on the phonograph, listening to the sounds of an overture strain softly forth.
"I will tell you a secret, now. One for you and your father if things go the way I expect them to. The Hoffenstiens pay their debts, and right now your father is the closest person who can utilize that information."
You nod, and look at the record player quizzicly. The overture is familiar, hinting at the back of your mind. "Is this… ah, an overture of The Planets Suite?"
Von Roon smiles, and you can see a small part of his eyes light up. "Yes. Unfortunatly," he says, removing the needle from the record, "I believe we need not listen to Mars today. Time enough for that in the coming months."
No matter how many times you entered his office, and listened to his records, you never heard that movement there. Sometimes, you'd wonder why.
Aside from the blatently obvious bits (Magical IRA and the fact that most wizards lived in mansions or cheap condos, respectively) the real telling bit was the fact that the names on the articles were getting a tad bit… ridiculous. It was fairly easy to tell the difference between Wizarding names that were older or newer (Black versus Devonsmythe) and Wizarding versus formerly-mundane (Arthrie versus Smith) but handles like Skeeter, Armok, and Greenshirt were all pushing it- especially Greenshirt, who at one point claimed to be an American expatriate. Someone might want to bring him in one of these days, and check up on that claim, because of his more vitriolic statements.
Didn't want anyone soiling your name for you, now did you?
Active Intel (MoM Watch): 1d20=9+4+1
Mole-Making: 1d4=2 (No new moles)
Scanning over the rather lengthy report that Catherine had slapped on your desk, you looked it over glumly. You remembered fondly the days where it was just you, a twelve-gauge loaded with hawthorn flechettes, and a dozen vampires who thought crack cocaine was a great way to help boost their newly-gained semi-immortality.
"Lay it on me." You said, sighing deeply.
"Short version- Magnum got in as a janitor, and the office hobby is laying down spells. According to him, we could Tallboy the place and it might take out his broom closet if we nailed it dead-on. They have most mundane means of espionage locked down too, courtesy of sheer spell-weight."
You just rubbed your eyebrows and poured a slug of Jack into your coffee. Catherine ritually swiped it and shelved it before continuing, a raised eyebrow disapproving of your habit of sometimes drinking in the office after twenty-hundred hours.
"Good news is, their information security is laughable. Think water-cooler conversation turned up to eleven. Between that and the office politics, we can probably get some really good moles in there in the janitorial branch, which is supposedly neutral."
"So, we've got the ways and means down. How expensive is it gonna be to keep running?"
"About a third of the start-up amount per month, less if you need to cut corners somewhere. Catch is, though, dumping more money into it won't help unless it comes with bodies."
Standing and streaching, you artfully reclaim your Irish coffee and make way to your barracks-house.
"C'mon- I think there's going to be a football game broadcast on the EFM bands tonight for once instead of another game of lacrosse."
The main advantage of having a "professional" research staff was that you could normally set them on an issue and expect them to Handle It like professionals.
Unfortunatly, you did not have profesionals. You had magical grad students who had developed an affixation to a certain magical style, no Great and Mighty Professor to wrangle them, and a budget that was just big enough for them to get in trouble with.
"Dr. Faust."
"Yes, Mr. Greaves?"
"One of my Mage Commandos reports there is a, quote, 'Rabbit of Caernabog' unquote, is loose on the green. He also states it tried to maul one of the girls before my son assaulted it with a barrage of thermite bombs and fireworks spells while carrying a katana."
"Ahahaha…"
"We both know, Mister LeFoux, that while I'm fairly tolerant, your research areas have had some issues with the quality of your workspace and equipment. During your many, many opportunities to repair them, you have delved into private experimentation."
"This is… correct, sir. I've tried to keep a handle on it…"
"Good. If not for my son's much-needed interference, we would have a dead girl on our hands. If we have any more issues, then there will be consequences."
(New Mechanic Added- Danger Roll. Every time the Research Unit acts, 1d10 is rolled. If there is a Natural 1 or reduction to 1 occurs from maluses, then there is an issue such as the one above. Certain researches have natural maluses or bonuses.)
(86/125)
What they had been doing was engineering. Specifically, materials engineering. Most of it was little things, like putting magical heat sinks around radar dishes, was old hat they'd dug up from the war ideas files. Some of their ideas, though, like backing a magically-hardened steel plate with STS and Kevlar to create a tough armor that looked like it could soak up bullets and blades. Other ones, like enchanting bullets to be swift, didn't work out too well. Either way, you had a few new options to pursuit in the process of acquiring upgrades for what little combat arms forces you had.
(101/100: Magical Properties I completed!)
(Heavy Infantry Armor unlocked!)
(Heavy Vehicle Armor unlocked!)
(SIGNIT I unlocked!)
(To develop an unlocked item further, write it in for the requisite Research or Science slot)
Event: 1d100=86+4
Low crit!
Watching four Black Widows fly in to your main airstrip, your face was a little stony as the thought of all your money leaving you came to the fore. Each one of those planes were massively expensive, both in terms of parts and munitions, but also in the sheer amount of gas they tanked. Once the planes were done taxiing, you got ready to meet the main pilot of the flight.
Ten minutes later, you smiled and left the hanger. The flight, led by Captain Thomas Young, was a mature unit who had gotten shafted on their Secret Squirrel mission that involved Flying Places that they officially Shouldn't Have Been. After a quick discussion about the glories of Taiwaneese airbases and the exact methods on how to fly under radar in magically-assisted stealth planes, you got the picture that your flyboys had been flying rocket runs in on Communist Chinese "Wizarding Schools" that shouldn't have existed in the first place.
To be fair to the Red Menace, China had a long, proud tradition with many of the world's leading magical theorists and sages. Confucius, Han Tao, Ming Rey… textbook names and titles, who had done amazing and groundbreaking work in unified magical theory and in proving Patschelli's Theorem (before said theorem was even invented!)
Then came the Opium Wars and the Century of Shame. English, French, Spanish, German, Russian, and even several mercenary American wizards rolled in with the Jolly Colonialism and Imperialism, and proceeded to wrought havoc amongst the Chinese. Mighty spellwork that had been the eminent domain of one group or another was replaced by cheap, slapdash work done by foreign magi at a fraction of the cost between the conflicts of the day. Literal miracle workers died of hunger because they took longer and charged more than the foreign devils and their bailing-wire spells. By the time Japan got into the mix, the worst had already been done, leaving China's magical economy in ruins.
The puppetmasters behind the Chrysanthemum Throne, though, didn't want to leave China in ruins. They wanted an empire, and by God they would make one if it meant killing every Chinese wizard known to man. What was left were the millitants, the runners and hiders and sabateurs, the warriors. They took whatever scraps of tradition they could, tied them into a weapon to fight back with, and grabbed a rifle from whichever China they could grab one from to fight back with.
By the time Mao came into power, the Chinese mages were like a crystal sword- sharp enough to cut the wind, but they would shatter the first time they fought an enemy force. Your pilots had been part of the effort to keep things that way, but had gotten burned when a MiG had bounced them from visuals during an exfil. Your pilots were good- they could fly in contested airspace, attack ground targets, and fight off an enemy who engaged them at the textbook definition of a bad time.
"Gentlemen, I believe this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship." You said, smug.
(NOTE: Pilots and Groundcrew added to base pop. Stats as such:
Pilot: Wounds, 4. Pilot Expertise
Groundcrew: Wounds, 8. Repair Expertise)
James Greaves
[] Improve front for gathering Intelligence
[] Upgrade your base
[] Upgrade your units
[] Hire New Units
[] Teach Children
Catherine Fuchs
[] Stay on intelligence operation with Magnum
[] Teach Children
[] Train Magical Girls (May cancel Blackstone Action)
Blackstone Greaves
[] Teach Magical Girls
[] Work with Tabasco on [REDACTED]
[] Develop an innovation
Susan Greaves
[] Study Melee dueling with Solft
[] Study Magical dueling with Renares
[] Practice Mixed dueling with Kranzky
Research
[] Continue Project
[] Abort (write-in new item to study)
Science
[] Write-in new item to study
Operation: MoM Watch
[] Continue operations as normal
[] Launch a strike
[] Withdraw task element
Finances
+10 from Salary
+20 from Base Subsidiary
+400 from Magical Girl Reimbursement
-3 from Hogwarts Tuition
-80 from Additional Food Purchases
-15 from Postage to Japan
-7 from Long-Distance Telephone Calls to Japan
-4 for R&D costs
-100 for Operation: MoM Watch
-300 for PLAAAAAANES
Total: 920 Money
Supplies
+5 from Deployment
+10 from Unit Subsidiary
+10 from Secret Airport
+120 from Magical Girl Reimbursement
-2 for Practice Materials
-25 for Magical Girl Cabin Fever Prevention
-8 for Blackstone's Devices
-2o for Shrine
-400 for PLAAAAANES
Total: 190 Supply
(ONE IN-GAME YEAR PASSED! YAY!)
Magic Baracks: 1d100=52+1d6=6(Sage)+6+20(Aid)
One of the nice things about having your own base was the simple fact that you didn't need to wait around for other people to get their shit in the sack before you made an upgrade of some kind to it. In this case, the upgrade was the same space-enhancing magic you'd put on more than half the barracks already. The girls had their shrine-thingies ready, you had your delicate work wand out, and sitting there in a very passible lotus position was-
"Blackstone, what are you doing here?"
"I'm helping. The girls need a focus, and I work just as well as the shrines do."
Now you were, shall we say, intrigued. For his own good, of course. "So, how did you find this out?"
"Erm… We did an… experiment. It worked, mostly."
"Mostly?"
"The issue with the spell we were trying to activate was traceable to a fault in the item we were trying to enchant, so yes. Mostly successful."
You let the subject drop, and got to work. True to what he said, you didn't really notice the actual difference between him and the shrine doing the focusing, although it got kinda creepy when he just kept sitting there, day in and day out. After you finished one of the barracks after a week of enchanting, you went over to him to see how he was doing.
"Hey, Blackstone."
"Nandesuka?"
You sighed, and nudged Blackstone on one shoulder. In true meditating fashion, he stayed still.
"Blackstone, you've been sitting here for a litteral week. Need a hand getting up?"
A couple of grumbles later, and Blackstone nodded. As his legs uncurled, he groaned loudly and you pulled him up to his feet.
"Dad?"
"Yes?"
"When we start this next week, remind me not to host the winner-take-all mahjong game for the ages while channeling that much juice.
You had so many questions to ask, but decieded to go slow. "Why?"
"Because Akastuki is going to be pissed when she remembers she owes the house ten percent of the pot, and I have no idea what I'm going to do with a few hundred thousand yen."
Learn Japanese II: 1d8=1+1 (Tabasco)+1 (A/N)
Sitting up in your workshop, you groaned quietly. The first most important thing, you decided, was figuring out why you were in your workshop.
Tabasco?
No reply, despite the fact she was sprawled on the ground next to you with one arm latched onto yours. Now that you were semi-upright, you looked at the mess your shop was in, and held your head in your hands. Tools were everywhere, and your supplies were all over the place. Leather was in the lumber bin, lumber was in the brass bin, brass dust was all over the rope bags and Akatsuki…
Speaking of which, why was Akatsuki in your shop? Truly, last night had some questions that needed answering. Getting to your feet, you moved towards your hot plate to make some coffee, when you noted a little hat on the plate. Putting it aside, you got to work, and found some decent mugs that weren't too messy. Pretty soon, you had a cup of joe ready, just in time for Tabasco to snatch it.
"Tabasco!" you yelled, diving after your drink.
Can it! I need something to drink, after your hairbrained idea last night!
What idea?
The one with sitting in the paint closet, smart one!
Going over to the paint closet, you open it to look into a little Shinto shrine. Inside, a few unlit candles sit on paint cans, with a closed case that certainly looked like something you'd build on a semi-alter in the back. Sticking your head back out into the shop, you went and got yourself another cup of coffee. This was well above your pay grade. Throwing your spare blanket over Akatsuki, you left to head to breakfast and really, really hoped that this wasn't going to bite you in the tail later.
(A/N: That was supposed to read "Learn Japanese II", so oops on my part)
Dueling Practice: 1d8=5+2
Now entering your second semester, you were getting very bored with most of your classes and some of the more picayune feuding that was Slytherin's bread and butter. The History of Magic class could have been renamed "Rule Britannia Enchatre", Defense Against the Dark Arts had bogged down in handling mundane pests and first-year countermagic to undo third- and fourth- year pranks, Potions was (still) a popularity contest with Slughorn trying to hold a prepubescent court, Charms was starting the unit on Magical Theory and Application, and Transfiguration was now entering the point where rising and falling paper balloons were catching on fire due to the transfiguration of salt.Dueling Practice: 1d8=5+2
Honestly, the only consistently interesting thing was Dueling Club. After your debut match and the resulting embarrassment on the older student's behalf, you were quickly entered into the ranking system for formalized dueling. There were three technical departments of the sport, each contributing to a composite number that theoretically represented each student's skill. Your strongest suit, Mixed Dueling, was also one of the least-represented schools of battle in Hogwarts, as explained by Professor Von Roon's gruff explanation to the Arthmiancer who ran the counting system. The other two -Melee and Magical dueling, respectively- were both much more represented among the two hundred-ish permanent members of the club.
Of course, your ascendancy in the field of Mixed Dueling meant exactly squat when nobody actually up and dueled you in a ranked Mixed match. The few new Gryffindor students who did quickly hemorrhaged points to your speed in casting and willingness to close the range and bring training knives into play. Melee dueling was slightly more receptive to your presence, although the inability to throw down blanket sparkle spells did leave you with issues, especially when you fought Kranzky. After his qualifying loss to Mort, he had decided to compensate for that disaster by dedicating himself to a melee weapon that would let him fight wizards on even ground despite his limited counterspell repetoir. Said weapon, an anti-magic bidenhänder longer than you were tall, was on loan from the Professor for the club's use. Your own melee weapons, a basket-hilt claymore and athame or dirk, were no match for its massive reach and power.
It was good training fighting Kranzky, but you still wanted more. Magical duels were your bane, but you did fare well in them as you clawed through the ranks. It was a few days into the semester when Professor Von Roon called you into his office for a talk. The inside was fairly barren, decorated with only a few photographs and paintings with a well-kept phonograph in the corner. Looking at him, you fidgeted nervously.
"So," he began, that solemn air thick around him. "I hear your father is working on a… refugee encampment. You do know my subject, correct?"
"No." you answered frankly.
"I am, through fault of my inability to get that old coot let me retire, the Professor of Diviniation. And while I might not have the most spectacular abilities of scrying, right now even a Muggle could see the wizarding world is paving the highway to hell. Perhaps my… past experience… has jaundiced me on the topic, but I see a storm approaching."
Standing, the Profesor put a disc on the phonograph, listening to the sounds of an overture strain softly forth.
"I will tell you a secret, now. One for you and your father if things go the way I expect them to. The Hoffenstiens pay their debts, and right now your father is the closest person who can utilize that information."
You nod, and look at the record player quizzicly. The overture is familiar, hinting at the back of your mind. "Is this… ah, an overture of The Planets Suite?"
Von Roon smiles, and you can see a small part of his eyes light up. "Yes. Unfortunatly," he says, removing the needle from the record, "I believe we need not listen to Mars today. Time enough for that in the coming months."
No matter how many times you entered his office, and listened to his records, you never heard that movement there. Sometimes, you'd wonder why.
Passive Intel: 1d20=14
As the winter progressed to almost spring, your continuing lack of intel geeks doing intel geek things left you leaning back on the newspapers for information. Right now, though, you were pulling up jack shit. The Death Eaters, according to various eyewitness accounts and editorials, were now responsible for ninety nine point five nines of all magical crime in Wizarding England, and yet, there was an amazing lack of detail. The two articles that didn't smell like well-fertilized sensation pieces were one on the Irish Provinces and rising tensions there between the local Wizarding and Druidic populations, and an opinion piece that contrasted the preparedness levels between the Wizarding Noble Families and Everybody Else.
Aside from the blatently obvious bits (Magical IRA and the fact that most wizards lived in mansions or cheap condos, respectively) the real telling bit was the fact that the names on the articles were getting a tad bit… ridiculous. It was fairly easy to tell the difference between Wizarding names that were older or newer (Black versus Devonsmythe) and Wizarding versus formerly-mundane (Arthrie versus Smith) but handles like Skeeter, Armok, and Greenshirt were all pushing it- especially Greenshirt, who at one point claimed to be an American expatriate. Someone might want to bring him in one of these days, and check up on that claim, because of his more vitriolic statements.
Didn't want anyone soiling your name for you, now did you?
Active Intel (MoM Watch): 1d20=9+4+1
Mole-Making: 1d4=2 (No new moles)
Scanning over the rather lengthy report that Catherine had slapped on your desk, you looked it over glumly. You remembered fondly the days where it was just you, a twelve-gauge loaded with hawthorn flechettes, and a dozen vampires who thought crack cocaine was a great way to help boost their newly-gained semi-immortality.
"Lay it on me." You said, sighing deeply.
"Short version- Magnum got in as a janitor, and the office hobby is laying down spells. According to him, we could Tallboy the place and it might take out his broom closet if we nailed it dead-on. They have most mundane means of espionage locked down too, courtesy of sheer spell-weight."
You just rubbed your eyebrows and poured a slug of Jack into your coffee. Catherine ritually swiped it and shelved it before continuing, a raised eyebrow disapproving of your habit of sometimes drinking in the office after twenty-hundred hours.
"Good news is, their information security is laughable. Think water-cooler conversation turned up to eleven. Between that and the office politics, we can probably get some really good moles in there in the janitorial branch, which is supposedly neutral."
"So, we've got the ways and means down. How expensive is it gonna be to keep running?"
"About a third of the start-up amount per month, less if you need to cut corners somewhere. Catch is, though, dumping more money into it won't help unless it comes with bodies."
Standing and streaching, you artfully reclaim your Irish coffee and make way to your barracks-house.
"C'mon- I think there's going to be a football game broadcast on the EFM bands tonight for once instead of another game of lacrosse."
Ritual Magic I: 1d75=24+10
The main advantage of having a "professional" research staff was that you could normally set them on an issue and expect them to Handle It like professionals.
Unfortunatly, you did not have profesionals. You had magical grad students who had developed an affixation to a certain magical style, no Great and Mighty Professor to wrangle them, and a budget that was just big enough for them to get in trouble with.
"Dr. Faust."
"Yes, Mr. Greaves?"
"One of my Mage Commandos reports there is a, quote, 'Rabbit of Caernabog' unquote, is loose on the green. He also states it tried to maul one of the girls before my son assaulted it with a barrage of thermite bombs and fireworks spells while carrying a katana."
"Ahahaha…"
"We both know, Mister LeFoux, that while I'm fairly tolerant, your research areas have had some issues with the quality of your workspace and equipment. During your many, many opportunities to repair them, you have delved into private experimentation."
"This is… correct, sir. I've tried to keep a handle on it…"
"Good. If not for my son's much-needed interference, we would have a dead girl on our hands. If we have any more issues, then there will be consequences."
(New Mechanic Added- Danger Roll. Every time the Research Unit acts, 1d10 is rolled. If there is a Natural 1 or reduction to 1 occurs from maluses, then there is an issue such as the one above. Certain researches have natural maluses or bonuses.)
(86/125)
Magical Properties I: 1d75=44+10
After the unimitigated disaster that had been last month's anfo bomb detonation, things progressed rapidly in your tech center's laboratory. Calling it a science lab was actually a bit of a misnomer, to be technical- they didn't do a lot of science.
What they had been doing was engineering. Specifically, materials engineering. Most of it was little things, like putting magical heat sinks around radar dishes, was old hat they'd dug up from the war ideas files. Some of their ideas, though, like backing a magically-hardened steel plate with STS and Kevlar to create a tough armor that looked like it could soak up bullets and blades. Other ones, like enchanting bullets to be swift, didn't work out too well. Either way, you had a few new options to pursuit in the process of acquiring upgrades for what little combat arms forces you had.
(101/100: Magical Properties I completed!)
(Heavy Infantry Armor unlocked!)
(Heavy Vehicle Armor unlocked!)
(SIGNIT I unlocked!)
(To develop an unlocked item further, write it in for the requisite Research or Science slot)
Event: 1d100=86+4
Low crit!
Ten minutes later, you smiled and left the hanger. The flight, led by Captain Thomas Young, was a mature unit who had gotten shafted on their Secret Squirrel mission that involved Flying Places that they officially Shouldn't Have Been. After a quick discussion about the glories of Taiwaneese airbases and the exact methods on how to fly under radar in magically-assisted stealth planes, you got the picture that your flyboys had been flying rocket runs in on Communist Chinese "Wizarding Schools" that shouldn't have existed in the first place.
To be fair to the Red Menace, China had a long, proud tradition with many of the world's leading magical theorists and sages. Confucius, Han Tao, Ming Rey… textbook names and titles, who had done amazing and groundbreaking work in unified magical theory and in proving Patschelli's Theorem (before said theorem was even invented!)
Then came the Opium Wars and the Century of Shame. English, French, Spanish, German, Russian, and even several mercenary American wizards rolled in with the Jolly Colonialism and Imperialism, and proceeded to wrought havoc amongst the Chinese. Mighty spellwork that had been the eminent domain of one group or another was replaced by cheap, slapdash work done by foreign magi at a fraction of the cost between the conflicts of the day. Literal miracle workers died of hunger because they took longer and charged more than the foreign devils and their bailing-wire spells. By the time Japan got into the mix, the worst had already been done, leaving China's magical economy in ruins.
The puppetmasters behind the Chrysanthemum Throne, though, didn't want to leave China in ruins. They wanted an empire, and by God they would make one if it meant killing every Chinese wizard known to man. What was left were the millitants, the runners and hiders and sabateurs, the warriors. They took whatever scraps of tradition they could, tied them into a weapon to fight back with, and grabbed a rifle from whichever China they could grab one from to fight back with.
By the time Mao came into power, the Chinese mages were like a crystal sword- sharp enough to cut the wind, but they would shatter the first time they fought an enemy force. Your pilots had been part of the effort to keep things that way, but had gotten burned when a MiG had bounced them from visuals during an exfil. Your pilots were good- they could fly in contested airspace, attack ground targets, and fight off an enemy who engaged them at the textbook definition of a bad time.
"Gentlemen, I believe this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship." You said, smug.
(NOTE: Pilots and Groundcrew added to base pop. Stats as such:
Pilot: Wounds, 4. Pilot Expertise
Groundcrew: Wounds, 8. Repair Expertise)
[REDACTED]: 1d8=8
!
VOTES!
James Greaves
[] Improve front for gathering Intelligence
[] Upgrade your base
[] Upgrade your units
[] Hire New Units
[] Teach Children
Catherine Fuchs
[] Stay on intelligence operation with Magnum
[] Teach Children
[] Train Magical Girls (May cancel Blackstone Action)
Blackstone Greaves
[] Teach Magical Girls
[] Work with Tabasco on [REDACTED]
[] Develop an innovation
Susan Greaves
[] Study Melee dueling with Solft
[] Study Magical dueling with Renares
[] Practice Mixed dueling with Kranzky
Research
[] Continue Project
[] Abort (write-in new item to study)
Science
[] Write-in new item to study
Operation: MoM Watch
[] Continue operations as normal
[] Launch a strike
[] Withdraw task element
Finances
+10 from Salary
+20 from Base Subsidiary
+400 from Magical Girl Reimbursement
-3 from Hogwarts Tuition
-80 from Additional Food Purchases
-15 from Postage to Japan
-7 from Long-Distance Telephone Calls to Japan
-4 for R&D costs
-100 for Operation: MoM Watch
-300 for PLAAAAAANES
Total: 920 Money
Supplies
+5 from Deployment
+10 from Unit Subsidiary
+10 from Secret Airport
+120 from Magical Girl Reimbursement
-2 for Practice Materials
-25 for Magical Girl Cabin Fever Prevention
-8 for Blackstone's Devices
-2o for Shrine
-400 for PLAAAAANES
Total: 190 Supply
(ONE IN-GAME YEAR PASSED! YAY!)
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Night_stalker
Slava Ukraini!
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Plan Won't get fooled again
James Greaves
[X] Improve front for gathering Intelligence
Catherine Fuchs
[X] Train Magical Girls (May cancel Blackstone Action)
Blackstone Greaves
[X] Work with Tabasco on [REDACTED]
Susan Greaves
[X] Practice Mixed dueling with Kranzky
Research
[X] Continue Project
Science
[X] SigInt 1
Operation: MoM Watch
[X] Continue operations as normal
[X] Improve front for gathering Intelligence
Catherine Fuchs
[X] Train Magical Girls (May cancel Blackstone Action)
Blackstone Greaves
[X] Work with Tabasco on [REDACTED]
Susan Greaves
[X] Practice Mixed dueling with Kranzky
Research
[X] Continue Project
Science
[X] SigInt 1
Operation: MoM Watch
[X] Continue operations as normal
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- Location
- Pittsburgh PA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Plan Won't get fooled again
- Location
- Ohio
I fear for Blackstone's future love life.
They're so cute together!
So it is telepathy! All we need to do now is figure out how that connection was established.
Oh dear god it's a triangle.
I detect a distinct lack of pride for our son in that second sentence. Frowny face!
Dark Abstraction
Infrequent Participant
- Location
- United States
I see it as more of a case of mixed pride. On the one hand, Blackstone saved that girl's life. On the other hand, he did it with thermite bombs and firework spells with a katana as a backup, and presumably he wasn't supposed to have the first or third.
So, I'm not entirely sure what the deal is with our pilots. They're good, I gathered, but the backstory portion for them was a little jumbled.
Okay, vote and resource stuff was a bit poorly formatted, here's it a little more spaced out.
So, I'm not entirely sure what the deal is with our pilots. They're good, I gathered, but the backstory portion for them was a little jumbled.
Okay, vote and resource stuff was a bit poorly formatted, here's it a little more spaced out.
Unless those planes are a one-off cost, we're running at a tremendous loss, by the way. Something to look into.
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The Froggy Ninja
The Blade Will Never Die
[X] Plan Won't get fooled again
Dark Abstraction
Infrequent Participant
- Location
- United States
@Night_stalker, what do you intend to get out assigning Azkaban Security to the Science team? They don't have access to Azkaban. They're also a bunch of desk jockeys, field research isn't their forte.
Night_stalker
Slava Ukraini!
- Pronouns
- He/Him
They can sift through old records, see what has been written about it.
FullNothingness
Mostly DHMO.
Given the tendencies of the local wizarding population odds are enormously in favor of any security at Azkaban being magical in nature... Which the science team can't do much with.
Also @7734 this last post isn't threadmarked.
Night_stalker
Slava Ukraini!
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Got any good ideas then?
FullNothingness
Mostly DHMO.
Well, the armor and other projects we unlocked this turn would be obvious choices if I understand how this works correctly.
Dark Abstraction
Infrequent Participant
- Location
- United States
Having gone back to look at options throughout the quest, here's your answer.
- Material Science II
- Material Applications I
- SIGNIT I
- Heavy Infantry Armor
- Heavy Vehicle Armor
- Develop new technology [write in]
- Integrate magic and machines
- Perform experiments on magical plants and animals,
Base population: 81
68-81 13
[X] James Greaves - Hire New Units
-[X] Gopher Team
-[X] Mage Training Team
-[X] Strike Wizard Team
-[X] Intel Team
Still having trouble identifying how much room we have. We added a magic barracks upgrade(+5 space) and an unknown number of ground crew. We started with one remaining space IIRC.
So currently working on the basis of:
1+5(Barracks)-1(crew)-1(pilot) = 4 space.
Hiring gophers so we regain our Intelligence slot, Mage Training Team to handle the horde of girls, and Strike Wizards...well okay they're mostly here to enchant barracks with expansions. And an additional intel team to deal with stuff.
[X] Catherne Fuchs - Stay on intelligence operation with Magnum
Rather important operation there.
[X] Blackstone Greaves - Work with Tabasco on [REDACTED]
*Popcorn*
[X] Susan Greaves - Study Magical dueling with Renares
Study her weakest area, right?
[X] Research - Continue Project
[X] Science - Study Magical Girl practices
Assigned Science to figure out what the magical girls are up to. We got lots of them on site after all.
[X] Operation:MoM Watch - Continue
Keep going.
Really need better status records to work with >.<
68-81 13
[X] James Greaves - Hire New Units
-[X] Gopher Team
-[X] Mage Training Team
-[X] Strike Wizard Team
-[X] Intel Team
Still having trouble identifying how much room we have. We added a magic barracks upgrade(+5 space) and an unknown number of ground crew. We started with one remaining space IIRC.
So currently working on the basis of:
1+5(Barracks)-1(crew)-1(pilot) = 4 space.
Hiring gophers so we regain our Intelligence slot, Mage Training Team to handle the horde of girls, and Strike Wizards...well okay they're mostly here to enchant barracks with expansions. And an additional intel team to deal with stuff.
[X] Catherne Fuchs - Stay on intelligence operation with Magnum
Rather important operation there.
[X] Blackstone Greaves - Work with Tabasco on [REDACTED]
*Popcorn*
[X] Susan Greaves - Study Magical dueling with Renares
Study her weakest area, right?
[X] Research - Continue Project
[X] Science - Study Magical Girl practices
Assigned Science to figure out what the magical girls are up to. We got lots of them on site after all.
[X] Operation:MoM Watch - Continue
Keep going.
Really need better status records to work with >.<
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Night_stalker
Slava Ukraini!
- Pronouns
- He/Him
And fixed, thank you.
@The Froggy Ninja @tygerbright
Have changed plan for R/D to do SigInt 1. If that's alright with y'all.
Dark Abstraction
Infrequent Participant
- Location
- United States
[X] Veekie's Plan
7734
Trust and verify.
- Location
- Philmont
Well, looks like I got gifted by the Based Discussion Fairy. So, salient points.
1) The plane cost is a one-instance item, however, there is a passive matinence cost, plus deployment costs.
2) Azkaban research is off the table unless you can access a dedicated magical library.
3) The pilots and crew are in an zemlyanka and will stay as such until you formally wrest them from the CIA's slimy, cold hands.
4) Researching an upgrade gets a better version of the same upgrade for the same cost. However, applying new upgrades over old still costs material.
5) There are large parts of the update that need formatting. Les Oops. That will get fixed, after which it will get marked appropriately.
6) Because apparently none of you know what a bad reference to British Comedy looks like, I will mention the fact that while your airbase has vast tracts of land, it more closely resembles Castle Anthrax.
1) The plane cost is a one-instance item, however, there is a passive matinence cost, plus deployment costs.
2) Azkaban research is off the table unless you can access a dedicated magical library.
3) The pilots and crew are in an zemlyanka and will stay as such until you formally wrest them from the CIA's slimy, cold hands.
4) Researching an upgrade gets a better version of the same upgrade for the same cost. However, applying new upgrades over old still costs material.
5) There are large parts of the update that need formatting. Les Oops. That will get fixed, after which it will get marked appropriately.
6) Because apparently none of you know what a bad reference to British Comedy looks like, I will mention the fact that while your airbase has vast tracts of land, it more closely resembles Castle Anthrax.
Dark Abstraction
Infrequent Participant
- Location
- United States
7734
Trust and verify.
- Location
- Philmont
[X] Veekie's Plan
Random Tale
The Story-Bound
[X] Veekie's Plan
This will do, for now.
Later, we likely need to get visas for the girls so that there are less troubles that can come our way.
Quick Question: can we start to upgrade the Zemlyankas into actual barracks soon, and then enchant them on top of that? They are giving us a penalty to our base defense, and while they may not mean anything to us now, removing that penalty may save lives if we're attacked.
This will do, for now.
Later, we likely need to get visas for the girls so that there are less troubles that can come our way.
Quick Question: can we start to upgrade the Zemlyankas into actual barracks soon, and then enchant them on top of that? They are giving us a penalty to our base defense, and while they may not mean anything to us now, removing that penalty may save lives if we're attacked.
7734
Trust and verify.
- Location
- Philmont
The Zemlyanka can be "upgraded" to a Fortified General Building if the base had a General Staff unit (who will be added in Units/Upgrades sheet v 3.0) or the Gophers unit or the Armory or Motor Pool.
Also, as for the visas, good thinking. However, visas are paperwork, and that means your "friends" in the Containing Idiots Apparatus (CIA) get involved, or worse, Carl From Accounting and his buddy Jimmy in HR.
7734
Trust and verify.
- Location
- Philmont
A large point of why the only things you have are Finances and Supply is because I want a minimum of stuff adding on to my wordcount for posts, and I want you guys to be re-reading the last... six? at least six months compulsively. One of the reasons (Gun)Swords and Sorcery had such a short run on SB was because I let my natural plot-kudzu tendencies go nuts. This format limits me more, which helps A LOT, but I still end up with dozens of little trail-ons and in-jokes that eventually I tie into something else or let die. To give a few examples...
-Tor Red Paint, from the OP, is a reference to @torrmercury who I got the skeleton system for this quest from.
-Those watched-list books in Post 2? They have always been books on summoning rituals.
-The screaming Dresden Files refrence got figured out, (thank God), along with the Erwin Rommel one. The OTHER prominent Historical Domain Character is still not ID'd yet, though.
-Back to the kids, the OTHER quadruplet of children they have some spiritual ties to is still not ID'd
-Istari as a joke, still not gotten... :-(
-Lieutenant Shinya, another borrowed character.
-Akatsuki (and her as-of-yet to be introduced three sisters)
-Tabasco... hoo boy...
-Arsenic was a green dye, and could cause insanity and madness. Guess which house has the most nutcases who try and take over the word?
Also, WRITING